The movie will follow the lead of last year’s Rogue One and the forthcoming Han Solo film, The Verge reports.
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Obi-Wan Kenobi will be the subject of the next standalone Star Wars film, with The Hours director Stephen Daldry in “early talks” to direct. The movie will follow the lead of last year’s Rogue One and the forthcoming, untitled Han Solo film, rather than the main “Saga” films that include The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that there is no script for the project, and that talks to bring Daldry on board are “at the earliest of stages.” However, if Daldry is brought on, he’s reported to help oversee the work developing the film’s story and its script. While directing a Star Wars movie is a great film to have on one’s resume, Disney has had some considerable troubles trying to mesh its creative vision for the Star Wars franchise, while tapping the abilities of the directors that it hires to carry it out. Rogue One notably required numerous reshoots that changed the film. Directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were fired over their handling of the upcoming Han Solo film and were replaced days later by director Ron Howard. It’s not known when Disney is planning to release the film to theaters — if it goes forward.
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It’s also not known if actor Ewan McGregor will be asked to reprise his role as Obi-Wan, but the actor has expressed an interest in coming back if the need arises. He told Entertainment Weekly earlier this year that he’d “be happy to do it. It would be a good segue between the last episode of the prequels and the new episodes.”
McGregor portrayed a younger version of the Jedi Master (first portrayed by Sir Alec Guinness in A New Hope) in the franchise’s prequel trilogy, mentoring a young Anakin Skywalker, and eventually ending up on Tatooine. The character has also appeared in The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels television shows, voiced by James Arnold Taylor and Stephen Stanton, respectively.
Following the release of Rogue One and The Force Awakens, Disney CEO Bob Iger has noted that the company is looking at what comes after Episode IX when it’s released in 2019, saying that it’s exploring “what could be another decade and a half of Star Wars stories.” It’s not known if that future will include more standalone films like Rogue One or the Han Solo film, or additional “saga-style” trilogies that focus on the Skywalker family, as seen with The Force Awakens and this year’s The Last Jedi .
